Posted by Fionamck on June 8, 2005, at 11:40:02
I don't know if anyone can give me an answer to this. About six months ago I started developing nervous twitches again. I used to have quite noticeable ones as a child (eye-widening, finger tensing as well as some need to 'wipe' my hands if they touched something etc - it's all a bit vague and I am not sure that it was OCD). Not sure why I had them as a child except that I was sent away to boarding school when I was eleven, an experience I found really quite traumatic.
I have been taking Lexapro (upped from 10-20mg about 4 months ago) for 18 months or so for clinical depression.
The twitches seem to be getting worse. They involve hunching and tensing my neck down into my shoulders, clenching my hands into fists and, recently, tensing up my upper stomach muscles. It's somewhere between voluntary and involuntary; i know it's coming and I try to relax, but feel a great compulsion to twitch and often have to stop what I am doing so that I can tense my hands etc.
I don't know what this is, why it has come back or what I can do to stop it. I am also worried about people noticing (if they haven't already) and the obvious social stigma that brings with it. I also self-harm and feel that these twitches go some way towards increasing the frustration and feelings of losing control that fuel the cutting I do. I have a job which can be stressful and I am struggling to finish a master's degree in my spare time, my job is uncertain after the end of next year and I will probably have to move country again then, and my partner does not seem to be able to get a job he likes or focus on his myriad of business ideas for long enough to make anything work. So, yes, i think anxiety and stress are probably playing a big part. I am seeing a counsellor, but she has been unable for two weeks and i won't see her this week as she has had to go into hospital. I'm sure this has all contributed to the twitches. Can anybody help me with this? How can I stop?
poster:Fionamck
thread:509633
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20050603/msgs/509633.html